Poorest, Richest
by MissLyricalLeftie
Summary: Patsy and Delia have managed to get away for a day at the beach together, but they get more than they bargained for when fellow beachgoer Anna goes into labour.


'Come on, Pats!' Trixie yelled from outside Nonnatus House. 'We need to get going if we want to have enough time to visit Classic Fantastic!' Patsy glanced out of her window; Trixie and Barbara stood outside with their bags and purses for the day, gesturing for her to come and join them by the big blue van they'd been lent for their trip. Patsy turned to the woman with a messy brown bun who stood over a messily stuffed bag next to her.

'Hurry up, Delia, it's you they're waiting for,' Patsy said to her. 'You'll live without your scarf for one day-'

'Where the hell did I put it?' Delia muttered to herself as she marched around the room, angrily searching the messy cupboards.

'Maybe if you put a bit more effort into keeping this room organised, you'd find it more easily.' Delia rolled her eyes.

'You sound just like Barbara.' Delia dashed over to the window and hung half-out of it. 'Coming!' With that, Delia grabbed her bag and practically flew from her bedroom door. Patsy smiled. As she left the bedroom herself, a white piece of fabric with yellow spots adorning it hanging from the mirror caught her eye. She snatched it up quickly and wrapped it around and around her hand, feeling the soft fabric against her skin. Best take this down for her, she thought, dashing out of the room catching a mildly miffed Trixie.

'If I miss out on those dresses, Pats, it'll be entirely your-' Trixie gestured to Patsy and Delia- 'faults. Come on then, Barbara's waiting in the front.' Trixie gave an excited smile as she tiptoed off to the minibus, elegant red purse in hand. She sank down into the front seat, her hat sinking from view as the seat lowered.

'I hope you're looking forward to today, Patsy,' Delia said quietly in her ear. 'We might even get a chance to be...' Delia's voice lowered into a whisper, 'you know, alone together.' Patsy smiled slightly at the thought; the two of them wandering down the pier, playing those little stall games and holding hands.

'I'd love that,' Patsy replied as she followed Delia into the car.

'When does Fred need this back by?' Barbara asked.

'About four,' replied Trixie as she slammed her foot on the pedal. 'We've got plenty of time.'

'I can't wait!' Barbara said excitedly. 'It's been a good while since I've been to the beach. You'll sunbathe with me if it's not too crowded, won't you, Trixie?' Trixie grinned.

'Only if you'll come with me shopping. I need your eye for colour; last time I went, I bought some very unfortunate blouses.' Trixie made a sharp turn, knocking the contents of the back row sideways, including Patsy. She and the girls' purses collapsed into Delia.

'Sorry about that, you two!' Trixie said. Patsy saw her glance in her mirror and spot the nearly-compromising position of the row; Patsy's hands, which she'd outstretched to break her fall, firmly on Delia's skirt, Delia pushing Patsy back up by the shoulders. Trixie gave a smirk into the mirror, as though she was certain Patsy would see, before turning back to the road.

'Anyway, what are you thinking of doing, Patsy?' Trixie asked her.

'Oh, I'm not sure,' Patsy replied as casually as she could. 'I must buy something for Chummy's little one, actually. I'd completely forgotten.'

'Darn!' Delia said loudly. 'I've forgotten too!' She gave a split-second glance at Patsy that could only mean "go with this plan you've made".

'Well,' Trixie said, 'how about we all buy what we need to, and then catch up at lunch? Fred was telling me about this delightful little café just off the pier. Apparently they've got the most gorgeous green tea.'

'Sounds brilliant,' Delia replied with a smile before sinking into silence.

Within an hour, they had spun into a car parking space and were wandering down the cobbled road leading to the beach, the stores they passed a blur of pastel yellow and blue. Trixie stopped outside a ochre window filled with scarves and dresses and beaded necklaces with fake pearls on white strings, clutching a slightly frightened-looking Barbara.

'Now,' Trixie said, 'Barbara and I can meet you at the beach at one. Bye!' With that, Trixie pushed open the door with a jingle of the bell attached to it and marched inside. The door snapped shut again.

'So...' Patsy said, turning to Delia with a half-smile.

'So...' Delia replied.

'I'm...I'm afraid I don't have very much money with me.' Patsy started slowly wandering down the road. 'Not a Trixie standard, anyway.'

'But, you know, after we buy Chummy's son something, we can go to the pier. That's got the amusements, and they're fairly cheap. It would be fun; us just playing games.' Patsy glanced down at Delia's hand; she wiggled her fingers, as though gesturing at her own hand, and then abruptly let her hands go slack again. 'It's not card games, of course, but it's something.' Patsy burst out laughing.

'Delia, you're terrible,' she said.

'Oh, am I?' Delia questioned, placing one hand on her hip in an indignant sort of way. 'I don't know how you stand me, cariad.' Patsy grinned. It wasn't all that often that Delia dusted her sentences with Welsh like sugar sprinkled on a Victoria Sponge- she usually reserved it for cursing when the residents of Nonnatus were around to scold her for doing so. It flows off the tongue so sweetly, Patsy thought. And I get to hear it.

'Come on, let's try this place,' Delia suggested. She pointed at a quaint sort of gift shop with silly little postcards in view, just to their right. The sweet scent of ice cream and fudge drifted towards the two of them as Patsy pulled open the door.

'Morning, ladies,' a man in a comically large hat standing behind an ice cream counter said to them. Delia smiled politely while Patsy glanced around, looking for something that might appeal to a two-year-old boy. She pondered a small toy train, but realised it was more likely to be trodden on or eaten than played with, before settling on a stuffed bear with differently textured paws and ears.

'It's cute,' Delia whispered. 'I'm sure it'll go down well with him. I think I'll get...' she trailed off and continued browsing the shelf (Patsy wasn't quite sure why she was gazing at refrigerator magnets, but she didn't think asking Delia was going to give her a more sensible answer). She handed the stuffed bear to the shop owner.

'That'll be two pounds fifty,' he said. 'Anything for your friend?' Delia smiled and handed him a blanket with little fish sewn onto it in different colours. He squinted at a price tag on the shelf, then shuffled over to get a closer look.

'Fancy treating your friend to a strawberry ice cream?' Delia asked.

'Not really,' Patsy told her with a gentle nudge. 'I'll treat you to one, though.'

So Patsy, having paid for the gifts and Delia's ice cream, found herself wandering along the water's edge with her arm linked with Delia's. By this point, she was carrying her shoes in her bag and allowing the soft warm sand to glide across her feet with every step, while Delia was stopping every once in a while to pick up a stone that had caught her eye, saying 'these are beautiful. Such intricate patterns, you know.'

'You don't strike me as a collector, Delia,' Patsy told her.

'I'm not,' Delia replied. 'I just think they're quite pretty-looking. I'll probably chuck them back in the sea before we head off.' Patsy shook her head.

'Oh no, you've got to skim them! Here-' Patsy took one of the stones from Delia's palm, placed it between her thumb and middle finger and flicked her wrist outward, tossing the stone as she did so. It flew towards the gently rolling sea; because of the waves, it didn't get very far, only making two skims against the water before sinking beneath the pale blue surface of the water. 'Come on,' Patsy said, turning to Delia, 'give it a go.'

Delia placed one of the stones she'd collected in her hand and flicked it forward with her wrist, just as Patsy had done. The stone glided forward, looking as thought it was likely to skim.

'Oh. I could have sworn that was the right way to do it,' Delia said, looking slightly disappointed.

'You've just got to- oh to hell with it-' Patsy walked round behind Delia and placed the stone between her thumb and index finger - 'hold it like that. And you just flick your wrist...' She took Delia's hand and guided it into the correct motion. Delia's hand was so warm, soft, gentle...

'Yes!' Delia said loudly as the stone tapped the surface of the water and was bounced upwards again.

'See?' Patsy told her, 'not that difficult.'

'Of course not,' Delia said with a smirk, 'mine went further than yours did.'

The two of them kept wandering along the beach, visiting the amusements for a while, until Delia seized Patsy's arm in the queue for a carousel and said 'Pats, it's five past one.'

'Damnit, we've got to meet Trixie in the cafe.' The two of them walked quickly the way they came down the pier. Glancing into the window, Patsy spotted Trixie and Barbara adorned in new jewellery.

'Remember, control you-'

'Yes yes, control my sin, I know,' Delia joked.

'You can laugh all you like, but I'm serious. Barbara has no idea that we're...you know, together.'

'Well, we'll just have to be careful, won't we?' Delia said with a smirk.


End file.
